Hanging basket

ABSTRACT

A hanging basket has a basket, multiple suspension lines and multiple basket connectors connected respectively to the suspension lines. The basket has a connecting ring formed around an edge and multiple mounting holes formed through a sidewall. Each basket connector has a lip hook formed on a wall, a first connecting part formed on another wall and a second connecting part formed on the lip hook. The lip hooks of the basket connectors and the connecting ring of the basket selectively hook each other. The first connecting part is connected with the second connecting part through a corresponding mounting hole of the basket. Therefore, no matter how heavy an article being mounted in the basket is, the basket is not detach from the suspension assembly even though the hanging basket hangs in high places and sways or bumps other hanging baskets or objects.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application in part disclosed and claims priority from subjectmatter disclosed in the earlier filed patent application Ser. No.11/859,839, filed on Sep. 24, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hanging basket, especially to ahanging basket that has suspension lines hooked securely in the edge ofthe basket to allow the basket to hang firmly and high.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

A hanging basket displays an article like a flowerpot in high places tomake good use of vertical space and to decorate the environment.

With reference to FIG. 6, a conventional hanging basket comprises abasket (30) and a suspension assembly (40).

The basket (30) has an edge, an outer surface and a connecting ring(31). The connecting ring (31) is formed around the edge of the basket(30) toward the outer surface of the basket (30).

The suspension assembly (40) has a mounting connector, multiplesuspension lines (41) and multiple basket connectors (42). Eachsuspension line (41) has an upper end being connected to the mountingconnector and a lower end. Each basket connector (42) has a crossmember, two walls (421) and two lip hooks (422). The cross member isconnected to the lower end of a corresponding one of the suspensionlines (41). The walls (421) protrude transversely from the cross memberopposite to each other. Each wall (421) has an edge. The lip hooks (422)are formed respectively on the edges of the walls (421) and face eachother. One of the lip hook (422) may hook the connecting ring (31) ofthe basket (30) to hang the basket (30) in high places.

However, the basket (30) is connected to the suspension assembly (40)only with the connecting ring (31) being hooked to the lip hooks (422).The connecting ring (31) and the lip hooks (422) may slide relative toeach other or the basket (30) may fall from the suspension assembly (40)and injure people.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a hangingbasket to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a hangingbasket that is allowed to hang securely in high places.

The hanging basket has a basket, multiple suspension lines and multiplebasket connectors. The basket has a connecting ring formed around anedge of the basket and multiple mounting holes formed around and througha sidewall of the basket. The basket connectors are connectedrespectively to the suspension lines. Each basket connector has a liphook formed on a wall of the basket connector, a first connecting partformed on another wall of the basket connector and a second connectingpart formed on the lip hook.

The lip hooks of the basket connectors and the connecting ring of thebasket selectively hook each other. The first connecting part isconnected with the second connecting part through a correspondingmounting hole of the basket. Therefore, no matter how heavy an articlebeing mounted in the basket is, the basket is not detach from thesuspension assembly even though the hanging basket hangs in high placesand sways or bumps other hanging baskets or objects.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hanging basket in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partially exploded perspective view of the hangingbasket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a basket connector of thehanging basket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view in partial section of the hanging basketin FIG. 1, showing the basket connector is detached from the basket;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view in partial section of the hanging basketin FIG. 1, showing the basket connector is attached to the basket; and

FIG. 6 is a side view in partial section of a conventional hangingbasket in accordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIG. 1, a hanging basket in accordance with thepresent invention comprises a basket (10) and a suspension assembly(20).

The basket (10) has a bottom, a sidewall (11) and a connecting ring(12).

With further reference to FIG. 2, the sidewall (11) is formed around andprotrudes up from the bottom of the basket (10) and has an edge, anouter surface and multiple mounting holes (111). The mounting holes(111) are formed separately through and around the sidewall (11) nearthe edge of the sidewall (11).

The connecting ring (12) is formed on and protrudes out from the edge ofthe sidewall (11) and has an outer edge, a lip (121) and multipleindentations (122). The lip (121) is formed around and protrudes downfrom the outer edge of the connecting ring (12) and has an outersurface. The indentations (122) are formed separately in the outersurface of the lip (121) and correspond respectively to the mountingholes (111) of the sidewall (11).

The suspension assembly (20) has an optional mounting connector (21),multiple suspension lines (22) and multiple basket connectors (23).

The mounting connector (21) attaches to an external object and may beimplemented as a hook, a clamp, an eyebolt or the like. Each suspensionline (22) has an upper end and a lower end. The upper end of thesuspension line (22) is connected to the mounting connector (21).

With further reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the basket connectors (23) areresilient and U-shaped, are attached respectively to the lower ends ofthe suspension lines (22) and are connected to the connecting ring (12)of the basket (10). Each basket connector (23) has a cross member, afirst wall (230A), a second wall (230B), a lip hook (231), a firstconnecting part (233) and a second connecting part (232).

The cross member is connected to the lower end of a corresponding one ofthe suspension lines (22) and has two ends. The first wall (230A) isformed on and protrudes down from one end of the cross member. Thesecond wall (230B) is formed on and protrudes down from the other end ofthe cross member and has a distal edge and an inner surface.

The lip hook (231) is formed on the distal edge of the second wall(230B) and bends parallel to the inner surface of the second wall(230B), is mounted selectively in a corresponding one of theindentations (122) of the connecting ring (12) and hooks the lip (121)of the connecting ring (12).

The first connecting part (233) is formed on the first wall (230A), maybe implemented as a lock hole and may have an inner surface and anengaging recess (234). The lock hole is formed through the first wall(230A) and aligns with a corresponding one of the mounting holes (111)of the basket (10). The engaging recess (234) is formed annularly in theinner surface of the first connecting part (233).

The second connecting part (232) is formed on the lip hook (231), isconnected with the first connecting part (233) through the correspondingmounting hole (111) of the basket (10), may be implemented as a post andmay have a distal end and an enlarged head (235). The post is formed onand protrudes transversely from the lip hook (231), is mounted throughthe corresponding mounting hole (111) of the basket (10) and engages thelock hole of the first wall (230A). The enlarged head (235) is formed onthe distal end of the post and engages the engaging recess (234) of thefirst connecting part (233) to allow the first and the second connectingpart (233, 232) to securely hold together.

With further reference to FIG. 5, the hanging basket as described hasthe following advantages. The lip hooks (231) of the basket connectors(23) may slide respectively into the indentations (122) of theconnecting ring (12) until the lip hooks (231) of the basket connectors(23) and the lip (121) of the connecting ring (12) hook each other andthe second connecting parts (232) that are implemented as posts aremounted through the mounting holes (111) of the basket (10) and engagethe first connecting parts (233) that are implemented as lock holes.Thus, the basket (10) and the suspension assembly (20) are connectedsecurely to each other. No matter how heavy an article being mounted inthe basket (10) is and even though the hanging basket may hang in highplaces, sway or bump other objects, the basket (10) is detach from thesuspension assembly (20).

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and features of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

1. A hanging basket comprising: a basket having a bottom; a sidewallbeing formed around and protruding up from the bottom of the basket andhaving an edge; an outer surface; and multiple mounting holes beingformed separately through and around the sidewall near the edge of thesidewall; and a connecting ring being formed on and protruding out fromthe edge of the sidewall and having an outer edge; a lip being formedaround and protruding down from the outer edge of the connecting ringand having an outer surface; and multiple indentations being formedseparately in the outer surface of the lip and correspondingrespectively to the mounting holes of the sidewall; and a suspensionassembly having multiple suspension lines, and each suspension linehaving an upper end; and a lower end; and multiple basket connectorsbeing resilient and U-shaped, being attached respectively to the lowerends of the suspension lines and being connected to the connecting ringof the basket, and each basket connector having a cross member beingconnected to the lower end of a corresponding one of the suspensionlines and having two ends; a first wall being formed on and protrudingdown from one end of the cross member; a second wall being formed on andprotruding down from the other end of the cross member and having adistal edge; and an inner surface; a lip hook being formed on the distaledge of the second wall and bending parallel to the inner surface of thesecond wall, being mounted selectively in a corresponding one of theindentations of the connecting ring and hooking the lip of theconnecting ring; a first connecting part being formed on the first wall;and a second connecting part being formed on the lip hook, beingconnected with the first connecting part through the correspondingmounting hole of the basket.
 2. The hanging basket as claimed in claim1, wherein the first connecting part of each basket connector is a lockhole being formed through the first wall of the basket connector andaligning with a corresponding one of the mounting holes of the basket;and the second connecting part of each basket connector is a post beingformed on and protruding transversely from the lip hook, being mountedthrough the corresponding mounting hole of the basket and engaging thelock hole of the first wall.
 3. The hanging basket as claimed in claim2, wherein the first connecting part of each basket connector furtherhas an inner surface; and an engaging recess being formed annularly inthe inner surface of the first connecting part; the second connectingpart of each basket connector further has a distal end; and an enlargedhead being formed on the distal end of the post and engaging theengaging recess of the first connecting part.
 4. The hanging basket asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the suspension assembly further has amounting connector; and the upper ends of the suspension lines of thesuspension assembly are connected to the mounting connector.
 5. Thehanging basket as claimed in claim 2, wherein the suspension assemblyfurther has a mounting connector; and the upper ends of the suspensionlines of the suspension assembly are connected to the mountingconnector.
 6. The hanging basket as claimed in claim 3, wherein thesuspension assembly further has a mounting connector; and the upper endsof the suspension lines of the suspension assembly are connected to themounting connector.